Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sameiro

[1] The Shrine of Our Lady of Sameiro remains one of the most frequented places of Marian devotion in Portugal, the complex itself surpassed in size only by the Sanctuary of Fátima.

At the top of a hill, Monte Sameiro, more than 350 metres above Braga, its setting offers a renowned view over the city and the valley of the Minho.

As national identity took shape (see Portugal in the Reconquista), a parallel and exceptional devotion to Mary saw the founding of monasteries, chapels, churches and sanctuaries that are still the focus of celebration and popular festivals.

[7] Existence of the sanctuary is thanks to Fr Martinho Silva (1812-1875), priest in the archdiocese of Braga, and figurehead of a local Marian devotion from the middle of the 19th century.

Many of those faithfully adherent to the Catholic Church, its institutions in Portugal ostensibly among the losers at cessation of hostilities, would have felt bereft and disorientated.

Then, in December 1854, Pope Pius IX pronounced as dogma the Immaculate Conception, the belief that, from when she was conceived, Mary had been free of Original sin.

Close to the grounds' entrance are four statues honouring theologians noted for their writings about Mary: Cyril of Alexandria, Alphonsus Liguori, Bernard of Clairvaux and Anthony of Padua.